Maggi samples sent for tests to laboratories

Maggi is one of the most loved and preferred instant dishes that woo the children all over the world to have it. However to everyones shock the UP Food safety and drug administration department, had confirmed the presence of more than permitted levels of lead and a food additive in a sample pack of Maggi.

The UP Food safety and drug administration department had also recalled a batch of about 2 lakh instant noodles packs to test for levels of lead and other permitted additives. The UP FDA also found expired packs of Maggi noodles last month, which were manufactured in February 2014.

Those batches of expired Maggi packs were said to contain high levels of added monosodium glutamate (MSG), a taste enhancer, in the noodles and lead beyond permissible limits. Barbanki district food officer VK Pandey told PTI, that they have collected samples of last April from 3-4 batches to ensure safety and are awaiting for reports. He added that the earlier reports have confirmed the additional levels of added chemicals.

“The company had claimed that the MSG are absent in the Maggi but they have been proved to be wrong” VK Pandey said. On lead content, he said, “it has been established in the report that it is beyond the tolerance level of 2.5 parts per million (ppm). It is 17.2 ppm.”

He said it was on the basis of the test report that Maggi was declared “unsafe and injurious to health”.

“We have asked Nestle 10-15 days back to recall all the Maggi noodles of that particular batch,” UP FDA additional commissioner (administration) Ram Araj Maurya said.

When the Nestle India was contacted in the local authorities of Lucknow, it said that they were aware of the samples being tested by the FDA. However it reiterated that they disagree with the batches of Maggi being called back and will go ahead legally in this regard, The Times of India reports.